Pamban Swamigal was an ardent devotee of Lord Muruga, and wanted to take up sanyasa in Pazhani. While his friend asked him if he had received a command from Lord Muruga regarding this, Swamigal nodded his head in assent. But he had not received any such command from the Lord. Later that day, the Lord appeared before him and said that because he had lied, he should not come to Pazhani. Muruga said that until he received an order from Muruga Himself, Swamigal should not visit Pazhani. And till the end of Swamigal’s life, such an order did not come from Muruga.
So, now we may ask, “Why is it that when so many people visit Pazhani, Swamigal was denied this joy? After all, did a small lie matter so much?” But we must not assume that Lord Muruga punished Swamigal. It was just a divine drama, said T. Rajarathinam in a discourse. After all, Muruga did appear before Swamigal. How many of us are blessed with such a boon? The Lord wanted Swamigal to write explaining Subramania tattva to the world. There was a lot he had to do for the cause of Saivism. That being the case, Muruga felt Swamigal should not hastily assume sanyasa.
It was in 1891 that Muruga appeared before Swamigal and told him not to come to Pazhani. In 1894, in Peerapan Valasai, when Muruga gave upadesa to Swamigal, He came in the same form which He has in Pazhani. So from this, it is clear that His anger against Swamigal was not serious. In 1902, Swamigal visited Kasi. When he stayed in Kumaragurupara Swami math, his clothes suddenly vanished. The official of the math offered him the ochre robes of a sanyasi, and it was finally at Kasi that Swamigal’s desire to renounce the world was fulfilled. So, we can infer that it was Muruga’s intention that Swamigal should become a sanyasi in Kasi.
